Ferrari have been in the shadow of their rivals for some time now, not winning a title since 2008 as Red Bull and Mercedes enjoyed periods of dominance.
It looked as if 2022 would be the Scuderia’s year after a one-two finish at the season opener in Bahrain while Mercedes looked off the pace and Red Bulls struggled with reliability and had a double DNF.
It was not to be for Ferrari however, as the team were forced to watch Red Bull comfortably wrap up both championships with time to spare, while they sat back and battled a number of issues.
Team principal Mattia Binotto is reportedly on the verge of being sacked, after the team repeatedly made strange and incorrect strategy calls throughout the season that cost the team so dearly.
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Ferrari pitted their drivers for the hard tyres in Hungary, despite the data making it clear they were a poor race tyre, they pitted Leclerc for the fasted lap in Spa and watched him get overtaken and they botched their stops in Monaco which put both of their drivers out of the reckoning for the win.
CEO of Ferrari, Benedetto Vigna, has ramped up the pressure on Binotto, telling the media that he is unhappy with his team’s finishing position this season.
“I said it after the last quarter, I am not satisfied with second place because second is first of the losers,” said the CEO.
“We have made some progress, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. I’m not happy with second place. I think the team has what it takes to improve over time.”
The Scuderia had the fastest car in the early stages of the season, blowing away even Red Bull with their pace until they were forced to tone down the engine power to fix their reliability issues, as revealed by Binotto.
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Binotto came up through the ranks at Ferrari before being appointed as the team principal, so the Swiss will know how frustrating it is for the team to be on a 14 year title drought, however fans are beginning to question whether he is the man to bring the dry spell to an end.
The team principal has said that he is happy with the season, unlike his boss Vigna, suggesting that it was never Ferrari’s aim to challenge for the title going into the first year of the new regulations, meaning that second place is a step forward that he is happy with.
While Ferrari have issued a statement rubbishing claims that they are looking to replace Binotto, the rumours continue to grow day by day about the Swiss losing his job.